AD- Party time with Zuru Bunch O Balloons - Review

I don't know about you but children's birthday parties can become stressful organising party bags blowing up ballons not only can it be stressful it can become expensive especially if you overdo it like I have done in recent years with party bags  I have learned that party bags don't have to be stuffed full a toy something to eat and a peace of party cake is quite sufficient enough for any child.

The good news is ZURU have thought of everything you need to make a mums life simple which is music to my ears they have thought about everything from the ballons to the goody bags and even has the main birthday gift covered as we found out recently for Adams 8th birthday.

Balloons Balloons Balloons 

We have always invested in ballons for birthdays/ Birthday parties, Christmas, Easter well most occasions if I'm quite honest, most kids absolutely love Ballons admittedly in recent years I have tried to where possible just buy the one foil Balloon because of im quite aware of the environmental impact of plastic on the planet. This is where Bunch O Balloons is an Amazing idea not only is all the packaging recyclable the Ballons are reusable how good is that? A better idea for the environment and also means you can put them away for the next celebration occasion in the house which means you are also saving yourself money.

In simple terms, these ballons look and feel like normal ballons but they can be used time and time again. How does it work you might ask? you simply attach the Ballons to the pump press the button and you have up to 40 Ballons in 40 seconds once the 40 seconds are up you switch off the pump, the ballons self-seal and you are left with a fabulous bunch of balloons that have taken minimal effort and a minimal amount of time.

Our main focus of these ballons was for Adams birthday however the list that you could use this pump for is endless parties Christmas anniversaries christenings and weddings I also like that the pump comes with different attachment heads meaning you can use it to blow up inflatables as well I cant wait to use it on next years paddling pool no more leg pumping for me I can't tell you how happy that makes me!

Party Bags 

As I have said earlier in the post, party bags don't have to be expensive a toy something to eat and a piece of cake is quite sufficient I had the cake and sweets covered and Zuru has come up with the idea of putting a smasher into the bag for that little bit extra. now it probably comes as no surprise the boys love smashers they like to keep and collect them all they get to smash the egg and reveal the hidden dino inside I love that you can rebuild the eggs and smash them over and over again!

The Main present 

ZURU have really thought of everything to make birthdays as easy as possible for us parents they sent us a ROBO Alive Dino for the main present which was an immediate hit. It walks and roars and a chomps it’s jaws, not to mention to glow in the dark claw marks on its side. A great gift for any dino mad kid and one that is is already well-loved.

Zuru range makes party planning really simple. The self-sealing balloons and pump saving you a lot of time, the smasher's dinosaur eggs are great for party bags you could even use them as a pass the parcel gift that all the friends will love to play with and could collect together. The Robo Alive dinosaur is a fantastic interactive toy that makes a fantastic birthday present. We absolutely love the Zuru and Bunch O Balloons range, they're all fantastic value for money.

All of the Zuru range is available to buy at Smyths nationwide. The great thing about their products is that they’re reusable and recyclable too.

Bunch O Balloons Party Pump including 16 balloons and one inflatable adaptor and fast fill hose retails at just £14.99

Bunch O Balloons Self-Sealing refill pack retails at £9.99

Zuru Robo Alive Dino retails at £12.99

The Smashers dino eggs retail at £3 each.

**We were sent these products for the purpose of this review all opinions remain honest and my own 

Ben and Holly's elf and fairy Party Time #recipes

Last week I told you all about us becoming bloggers for Ben and holly's Little kingdom, This week we have tried out some of the recipe's from Nanny Plums magical cookbook and also added some extras of our own to have our very own magical elf and fairy party.





We made the magic fairy cakes and turned them into mushrooms -

Ingredients: 

• 100g caster sugar 
• 100g soft butter 
• 100g self raising flour 
• tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 eggs, beaten 
• icing sugar and butter edible cake decorations 
• jam and 12 cake cases

Method;

1. Preheat the oven to 180oC or gas mark 4. 
2. Mix the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy. Now stir in the eggs a little at a time.
3. Sift the flour, then slowly stir it into the mixture. When it has all been added, divide the mixture between the cake cases.
4. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cakes are golden and firm. Allow them to cool.
5. cut a small hole in the top of your cakes and fill the space with your favourite jam.
6. Then cover it up with a piece of cake.
7. Now decorate your cakes however you like, we decided to turn ours into mushrooms and also made some butterfly cakes with some butter icing as well as some hidden jam.

We also made some Gaston the ladybird biscuits, we made our own very simple sweeter version but on the website there is an idea for a savoury ladybird snacks.

Ingredients; 

• Chocolate Digestive biscuits
• Butter cream 
• strawberries 
• white icing 
• dark icing pen

Method;

1. Spread the butter icing on to the biscuit.
2. Halve and quarter the strawberries and place the quarters onto the biscuit so it looks like the ladybird wings are open.
3. use a round cutter to make a round piece for the ladybirds head if you don't have a cutter simply just use a knife.
4. Using the white icing make two round circles on its head for the eyes.
5. Then using the dark icing pen make the dots for the ladybirds spots and give the eyes two dots in the middle of the white icing to complete Gaston! 
6. keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

  We also made some magical fairy wands and some heart shaped biscuits

 Ingredients; 

• 100g butter.
• 60g golden caster sugar.
• 100g plain flour.
• 60g fine semolina.
• sugar to sprinkle.

Method;

1. Pre-heat the oven 150C/300F/gas mark 2.
2. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl, mix them together until they make a smooth paste.
3. Sift the flour into the bowl.
4. Add the semolina then stir the mixture well
5. When the mixture wont stir anymore use your hands and knead it, the dough will be ready when there are no bits left on the side of the bowl.
6. Sprinkle the top with flour so the dough don't stick to the side then roll it out with the rolling pin.
7. Use you biscuit cutter to cut the dough in to shapes.
8. Lay shapes onto a baking tray lined with grease proof paper.
9. Bake the biscuits for 18-20 minutes.
10. Then remove from the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.
11. now is the fun part decorate them anyway you would like you can be as creative as possible the children will love it.
12. To get the sticks inside the biscuits use a sharp skewer or cocktail stick to make the hole.  

We only made the sweeter of the items but there are ideas for savoury snacks as well over on the Ben & Holly website there are also party thank you notes, create your own head dress and lots more all available to download for free! Why not pop over and take a look at the great activities available Here and take a look at Nanny Plums magical cookbook, don't forget you can tweet your ideas using #ElfandFairyparty.




Last but not least no don't forget your magic jelly!

Ben and Holly's Little kingdom Were Ambassadors!

You might have noticed on the side of my blog we have a brand new shiny badge - if you haven't have a scroll down, were so happy to announce that we are now officially brand ambassadors for Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, We absolutely love the television program especially Adam, apart from big bad Barry the fish if you haven't seen the show he is pretty scary you know well at least Adam thinks so anyhow  - I will tell you about that in another post though.

You may be wondering what it means to be a brand ambassador - well it means we will be bringing you news ideas for recipes crafts and games, you can join in if you want to with it all of course with the Ben and Holly theme so if your little one loves them as much as mine do its worth watching out for the weekly posts.


So with Autumn being here Halloween, bonfire night and Christmas just around the corner what better time of the year to have a party and that's exactly what Ben and Holly will be doing this month, you can join in by downloading your very own Ben and holly party elf and fairy party pack from the Website Here 

The pack includes recipes, colouring activities, decorations and your very own make them yourself invitations, love this idea it just gives them a bit more personality!

There is also a fantastic chance to win a selection of elf and fairy goodies over on the website!

This time next week we will be holding our very own elf and fairy party celebrations so do come back to join us and see what we have been up to in the mean time why not tweet your own pictures and opinions, don't forget to use the hash tag #ElfandFairyparty.

  

     

- Post Zack and Quack twitter party

A few weeks ago on the 7th of February we were lucky enough to be involved in hosting our first Twitter party to help promote the premiere of Zack and Quack.

The party was a great success, although very chaotic at times and noisy with six children under five in the house and they certainly outnumbered the adults.

The first thing they did was decorate some boxes to take there party sweets home in they were all really good at picking colours and getting creative, even the little ones of which are both two managed to use the glue and make some lovely bits to take home with them they really enjoyed it!
although this took longer than anticipated as they were really stuck into the task.

The next thing we did with boxes was paint them, the children went into groups of three and painted some boxes although they were meant to be cars so the children said they didn't look much like cars! but they had fab fun painting!

By the time they had finished the painting task, it was time to sit down to the premiere of Zack and Quack as soon as the program started the room went instantly quiet the kids were engrossed only looking away, to eat there Pizza's and drink there juice, The Zack and Quack premiere was fantastic the kids loved Quack and there was some fantastic creativity ideas shown in the show. We also had a lovely cake for the celebration, I think Liam was slightly confused he thought it was his birthday.

After Tea and the premiere of Zack and Quack the kids didn't seem to have much concentration left running around, I managed to get them to focus and they all decorated a biscuit to take home with them and we played who could tidy up the quickest in order to take home there fabulous Nick Jr goody bags.

Over all I really enjoyed the party and more to the point the kids absolutely loved the party and everything about it, the time went by so fast the only thing I would do differently would to be assign another mum to take the pictures, as I didn't take as many as I would have liked too! It seems Zack and Quack is already the newest big hit in our house.....I just wish it was on the TV more!      

Its party time, introducing Zack and Quack

This week for us is going to be extra special we our holding our first twitter party Liam and Adam have some of there lovely friends coming round to help celebrate the premiere of the new show Zack and Quack they are both really excited and I'm not going to lie so am I!

You are all invited to the Twitter party 3.45 - 5.45

 Friday 7th February 

Zack and Quack is set in a world based around a pop up book and tells tales of an inventive boy called Zack and his best friend a duck called Quack,  There are lots of surprises along the way on there adventures. It’s a place full of fantastical surprises – where pulling pop-ups makes exciting and unexpected things happen.

This Nick Jr twitter party is open to everyone and is focused on Art and craft activities using all kinds of materials found in the recycle bin and around the home - so please collect some boxes and bottles ready or anything that you can get creative and imaginative with we will be tweeting our creations!

Follow @ukmumstv and me @HelenRemi411 and use the hashtag #zackandquack to join in!

 Make sure you tune in on Nick Jr as the premiere of the program is at 4.30, During the party there will be online spot competitions and more fun and games to take part in, so make sure your laptop or PC is ready to go as the party starts. 

as pulling pop-ups triggers unexpected wonders and causes exciting new worlds to literally unfold before their eyes. Resourceful friend and neighbour, Kira, joins the dazzling duo on each adventure and is on hand to fix any paper problem with her expert pop-up tool kit. - See more at: http://www.evolutioncomps.co.uk/zackandquack#sthash.fwcGd8eY.dpuf

There are surprises abound, as pulling pop-ups triggers unexpected wonders and causes exciting new worlds to literally unfold before their eyes. Resourceful friend and neighbour, Kira, joins the dazzling duo on each adventure and is on hand to fix any paper problem with her expert pop-up tool kit. - See more at: http://www.evolutioncomps.co.uk/zackandquack#sthash.fwcGd8eY.dpuf

There are surprises abound, as pulling pop-ups triggers unexpected wonders and causes exciting new worlds to literally unfold before their eyes. Resourceful friend and neighbour, Kira, joins the dazzling duo on each adventure and is on hand to fix any paper problem with her expert pop-up tool kit. - See more at: http://www.evolutioncomps.co.uk/zackandquack#sthash.fwcGd8eY.dpuf

Planning a Christmas party

If you asked amongst my friends they would possibly refer to me as a bit of an events planner for as long as I can remember I have always been the person to organise days out, party nights, theatre trips, spa days and some girls nights in at home including dates, times, collection of money if the event or party involves money that is and lets face it most of the time it does involve collecting money there is not a lot you can do anymore that is free! I am the person you will find ringing around checking if they could still make the event what transport they would be using and of course at the same time catching up about life.

This Christmas is certainly sneaking up on us, I have been thinking about what I could organise for myself and friends this year - I wanted something fun with a theme, at least with themes everyone knows what they are doing. I came up with the idea of a costume party/night out. Costume parties can be a whole heap of fun, and nowadays they’re not just for the kids, as many adults are getting in on the act.

I have decided that throwing a costume party to celebrate Christmas this year will be loads of fun but in a venue, rather than go down the same old route of hitting local town’s bars I want a venue which will perfectly complement my party.

When planning a costume party, planning an outfit will be high on the agenda, although it’s a good idea to consider venue at the same time. There are a lot of different options and applications around online to help with party planning, if you struggle with organisation that is - you could try Facebook party planner application which comes from the fancy dress ball company which really helps you to plan things and keep them in the same place the app even sends invitations, so its lots less to worry about and will save you money.

In terms of venues I would love something more fun and more memorable, which is a little fancier- such as a party boat, or even a party bus they would both make for spectacular fancy dress party venues, and will make what should already be a fun party even more enjoyable.

I think I would aim to decorate the whole party venues in reds, golds, silvers and greens typical classic colours associated with the warmth of Christmas I would also love to see glittery snowflakes baubles and balloons hanging from the ceiling. With the room being draped in soft glowing fairy lights adding to the festive cheer.

In terms Of food I want to order traditional favourite party food along side this there would be some added extra, delicious Christmas food such as mince pies, Christmas pudding, turkey rolls and lots more. I would love to see mulled wine on the tables perhaps some bucks fizz and Christmas wouldn't be the same without Asti martini.

Last but not least entertainment- I would like to see a big brass band outside playing old traditional carols but I am not sure budgets would be able to stretch that far I could try though! inside there is going to be a disco music almost definitely included - Wham, last Christmas,  I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard and Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade I want this to be a fancy dress ball/party to remember       

written in collaboration with fancy dress ball 

Birthday cake anyone? Baker Days cake review

As you all know its my birthday today, now usually I wouldn't bother with a birthday cake But when Baker Days offered to send me a "letter box" cake to review, I of course jumped at the chance, after all who doesn't love cake? Not only that I had never heard of a "Letter box" cake before. What is it? The name gives it away that's right, its a cake small enough to fit through your "Letter box" I was quite quizzical at how the cake would make it through the post onto my door mat in one piece. 

So yesterday morning when I got up a lovely little package dropped through onto my mat, excited to see what it was I opened it up and this is what was inside.

  A cute little cake tin (cake inside) three balloons a party blower and two candles perfect for a celebration.

 This is the cake I choose, can you see all the fantastic intricate detail, the cakes can be personalised in any way you choose and with over 400 designs to choose from there is something for everyone.

It wouldn't be a birthday without lighting the candles singing "Happy birthday" and making a wish it looks great hard to believe it came through the letter box!

Now for the most important part, cutting and tasting, I choose the chocolate swirl sponge cake. It was delicious the cake was very moist, for a small cake it is certainly very big in flavor the chocolate wasn't to rich, I thought it was just right.


This cake says it for 2-3 people but I did manage to stretch it between 6 people, granted the pieces were not very big but it was enough, just right for a celebration.

The Letter Box cake is priced at £14.99, slightly more than I would pay for a cake but an excellent and perfect idea if you have friends that need cheering up, children that are away at university, or any other celebration that you want to make just that little bit more special and memorable. The cakes are very special unique and are definitely worth paying extra for.

 Let me tell you a little bit about Baker Days,

• Baker Days is situated on the edge of Sherwood forest.
• They can deliver cakes within 24 hours of receiving your order to anywhere in the UK.
• There are over 400 personalised designs to choose from.
• If you cant find what you are looking for they will design what you want and price match.
• cakes are available in a range of different sizes on there website.

Over all I was very, very impressed with this cake, the little extras like the tin, candles etc all just give it that extra special little touch. 

I would definitely recommend giving there site a visit if you have a special occasion coming up, whether its a birthday, christening, wedding anniversary, or just to cheer yourself up they have the perfect something for everyone! and I can honestly say this cake really does fit through your Letter box it genius!

To find out more you can visit the Baker Days site here

Also why not check out there Facebook and Twitter pages.

This cake was sent to me for free for the purpose of this review all opinions expressed are honest and my own.

The business was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur  Alan Hawkes,   whose passion for cakes ( mainly eating them) is only exceeded by a knack of creating the perfect cake design for every occasion.  - See more at: http://www.bakerdays.com/pages/about#sthash.NSGG3KMQ.dpuf

The business was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur  Alan Hawkes,   whose passion for cakes ( mainly eating them) is only exceeded by a knack of creating the perfect cake design for every occasion.  - See more at: http://www.bakerdays.com/pages/about#sthash.NSGG3KMQ.dpuf

The business was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur  Alan Hawkes,   whose passion for cakes ( mainly eating them) is only exceeded by a knack of creating the perfect cake design for every occasion.  - See more at: http://www.bakerdays.com/pages/about#sthash.NSGG3KMQ.dpuf

The business was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur  Alan Hawkes,   whose passion for cakes ( mainly eating them) is only exceeded by a knack of creating the perfect cake design for every occasion.  - See more at: http://www.bakerdays.com/pages/about#sthash.NSGG3KMQ.dpuf

The business was founded by Andrea Guzyova and greeting card entrepreneur  Alan Hawkes,   whose passion for cakes ( mainly eating them) is only exceeded by a knack of creating the perfect cake design for every occasion.  - See more at: http://www.bakerdays.com/pages/about#sthash.NSGG3KMQ.dpuf

An awesome Autumn party night in!

Once upon a time my perfect night, would involve wine at home with friends a taxi to a pub, then to a club, dancing the night away and then staggering home in the early hours of the morning feet pounding.Things change and now I think you can have just as much fun at home.
I love the season of autumn reds, golds and browns, leaves crunching under your feet and crisp sunny mornings.
This is going to be my theme for the perfect night in now don't get me wrong I love my boys but its going to be an all adult party so I am calling in the favours, (Mum and Auntie if your reading this your in!).


Now for decoration I want to bring some of the outdoors in, so I would decorate the the hallways and garden with confetti leaves. 






 party lights in the front garden leading up the path, I would also have them all the way around the back garden.                    

 lighting for the back fence and windows.                                                        

I would collect leaves and hang them in the doorways on strings, there would be gold balloons and free standing artificial trees decorated with fairy lights. there would also be some big carved out pumpkins in the garden after all it wouldn't be Autumn without a pumpkin or two!

Now for the food, I would lay on a beautiful tantalising buffet, with cheesy Autumn mushrooms, chestnut salad, home made pumpkin bread, a roast turkey and some classic buffet favourites like cheese and pineapple on sticks, sausage rolls, bread rolls and lots more. Too the best bit pudding blackberry and apple crumble,  Cinnamon leaf shaped biscuits & toffee apples. The centre piece of the table would be a huge gleaming gold stack of Ferrero Rocher.

                                                                                               

Drinks Would be crisp white wine and cider, not to mention a classy hot chocolate maker with marshmallows cream and chocolate sprinkles for the non-drinkers.

I would invite all of my best friends of course, insisting they all were wearing there best outfits with something gold to fit the autumn theme, we don't ever all get together much so I think party games would be useless, far to much catching up, gossipping and laughing to do, however I do think old habits die hard we would need music, need to dance, shaking my now bigger sized mummy bum is so much fun!

 So i would have a make shift dance floor and disco lights in the corner something like this with some very cool music, probably what most would call "cheesy" lets face it a good night isn't a good night without a bit of Wham or Chesney Hawks. 

I don't think the budget would go quite as far as I have tried to make it go, but I am sure I could come up with some cheaper versions to re-in act my awesome autumn dream.

 

A girl can dream right, I have written this post after I spotted a fantastic idea for a blog post on Little Stuff last week not only has it had me dreaming about lots of different party ideas, it is a competition to win an awesome prize. It is in partnership with brand new bingo review portal Two Little Fleas, and asks us to share how we would spend £750 on a Big Night.